Zenith Takes The Defy Into The Extreme

With the launch of the new Defy, Zenith is taking this collection into the extreme, and quite literally so. As founding partner and official timekeeper of Extreme E, they are sending their watches off the grid. This new and exciting off-road championship will challenge both the drivers as well as their machines but also adds something unique into the mix, as all the cars are electric. As Zenith CEO Julien Tornare puts is “Building a green and sustainable future is something very much at the core of what Zenith is doing today and the reason why we began the ZENITH GREEN initiative two years ago. We are absolutely thrilled to join Extreme E as its Official Timing Keeper and Founding Partner. It’s exciting to be at the start of what will undoubtedly become the future of off-road extreme racing, while also bringing environmental issues to the forefront. When we conceived the DEFY Extreme, this is exactly the kind of environment we envisioned for it: Innovative, off the beaten path and pushing the limits of performance to the extreme, where every millisecond counts and every racer can leave his mark.”

Measuring milliseconds is something that the new Defy Extreme models are in particular good at, because the heart of the collection is Zenith’s famous El Primero caliber 9004. This automatic movement is capable of measuring with a precision of 1/100th of a second. It does so by a centrally mounted seconds hand that makes a full rotation in a single second. To achieve this, Zenith placed two escapements in the watch. One, running at 36,000 vph/5 Hz supports the timekeeping, while the other, at the impressive speed of 360,000 vph/ 50 Hz, is connected to the chronograph. 

For the Defy Extreme, Zenith made the case of the watch look more robust. With a diameter of 45 mm it is a generously sized timepiece, yet a lot of attention was paid to the ergonomics of the watch. The case shows more angular shapes, and the pushers for the chronograph are more accentuated, serving visually like a crown guard for the robust crown. As a true watch for the extreme, the water-resistant is 200 meters. 

Zenith is offering the Defy Extreme in three models. The first combines microblasted titanium with a black-colored mainplate. Next to a titanium bracelet, the watch also comes with a velcro and rubber strap, both in black. With a blue-colored mainplate is the second model a little less understated, also because it combines this with a titanium case which features brushed, polished and microblasted finishes. Like its sibling, it comes on a titanium bracelet with the same two straps, only this time in blue. The third one is the boldest but also the most luxurious, as here there is an enticing contrast between microblasted titanium and polished pink gold. Just as capable as its siblings, and coming with the bracelet and straps as well, does it nicely round off the stunning new collection Zenith introduced at Watches & Wonders 2021, and of which we probably hear a lot more in the near future.